Saw Jesus on Easter

March 29-April 1
Luxembourg, Luxembourg & Bruges & Brussels, Belgium


I think part of my Lent was having to not travel on the weekends. And thank goodness Easter brought with it the end to my traveling drought. I spent any free time I had the past two weeks trying to figure out where to spend Easter and I ended up with my last resort: Belgium. Then it turned out to be one of my favorite trips.


I was still figuring out my plans on Tuesday when I asked my Hungarian friend in French culture what her plans were. She was going to Luxembourg and Belgium with the girl from Ohio and California. I went to London with them, and the girl from California had invited me on the trip earlier. So I joined them. I booked an earlier train to Luxembourg because it was a bit cheaper than the one they were going on. On Friday, I got to the train station and couldn’t find the train number on my ticket, so I just matched it with the time to see what platform. There was only one 7:50 so I thought it was fine, despite being a little hesitant. After about 15 minutes I realized that I was headed to Switzerland and not towards Luxembourg. I accidentally got a ticket for the 7:50pm train and not am. It’s usually in military time, so I’ve gotten used to disregarding the am and pm. I got off at the next stop and bought a ticket back to Strasbourg and then another to Luxembourg. I had a connection on the way to Luxembourg which was a bus. When a small white van pulled up, I was a little surprised. It was not what the term “bus,” or the professional printed-off ticket was implying. Regardless, I hopped on and rode in the 8-person van the last hour and a half to Luxembourg.

Wall of Luxembourg >>> Wall
of China

The only reason I wanted to go to Luxembourg was because it’s so close and I’ll probably never go again. I could spend a hot sec there and then check it off my list. And that’s exactly what I did. There was the ‘Wall of Luxembourg’ as I deemed it and that’s about it. We walked along it, near it, ate lunch, and dipped. The only good thing was the fact that tickets from there to Bruges, even factoring in the cost to get to Luxembourg, were about $100 cheaper than leaving from Strasbourg.

The Whole City Was This Cute

If I'm Lost Look for Me at
An Art Museum 

I got to Bruges that night. The next day I went to an art museum. It wasn’t big but it still had impressive art and ranged from the 13th century to modern art. I then walked around. It was raining so I took every opportunity I had to go into stores. It's a tourist city so there were lots of cute stores. I then ate and went on a walking tour. It stopped raining and the tour was super informative. I learned that Bruges used to be a port city but then the sand bar went up and they lost their access to the coast. As a result, they lost their whole industry and became a poor city. Because of this, the city was never able to change architectural styles and modify the city, so the city center looks just like it did in the 13th/14th century. My favorite thing that I learned was that there was a convent that operated a brewery on the side. After the tour, I got a waffle from a place the tour guide recommended. It added to the holiness or holy week. I then walked, picking up some trinkets for the rest of the day.

The Basilica

On Sunday, I went to mass at the Basilica of the Holy Blood. There is a relic there that is believed to be a cloth with the blood of Jesus. I went the day before and it was a small church so I got there 35 minutes before to make sure I got a seat. When I tried to go in, a lady stopped me and when I told her I was there for mass she didn’t believe me. She then tried to convince me to not attend mass by saying that it was going to be 2 hours long, and they were going to lock the door so I couldn’t leave. After reassuring her that I was in fact ok with those falsified stipulations, she let me in… to an empty church. Less than five people were there. Mass was an hour (like I assumed), they didn’t lock the doors (because people came in late) and I stayed the whole time. There were 11 priests and they blessed us with the relic twice. Mass was at 11 so I got out around noon. I continued my exploration and ate Belgium fries. That evening I headed to Brussels.

All That My Dad
Remembered from Brussels

All of the museums were closed on Monday and Europe celebrates Easter Monday more than Easter Sunday so almost everything was closed. I just walked around the whole day trying to kill time before my 6:30 bus ride back. I saw all the landmarks, and most parks and walked two hours (one there and one back) to see a church. I clocked in a little over 16 miles.

I rode the 8-hour bus back and got back around 2:30. Bruges now tops the list

of favorite places I’ve been this semester with Brussels (due to circumstances)

is last.

Dream Combination